Michael Swickard's new novel about New Mexico

KOAT TV - Since the (Un)occupy Albuquerque protest started at Yale Park on Oct. 1, Albuquerque police have spent thousands in overtime to keep the area safe and secure. Albuquerque police officers patrolling the demonstrations have racked up $16,600 in overtime. “It actually does take away from us using those particular resources towards other tact plans and things throughout the city,” Sgt. Trish Hoffman said. Officers will work overtime as long as the protesters are there. Last Friday, police arrested a man after they said he tried to stab demonstrators. Earlier this month, police arrested a protester after they said he walked into a business and started spitting on people. Read full story here: News New Mexico

The Hill - A Massachusetts company that received a $43 million Energy Department loan guarantee last year filed for bankruptcy Sunday, a step certain to fuel criticism of federal green energy financing in the wake of the solar company Solyndra’s collapse. Beacon Power Corp., which develops energy storage systems, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.Beacon Power had received a federal loan guarantee to help build an energy storage plant in Stephentown, N.Y., that began operating in January. The Treasury Department’s Federal Financing Bank provided the loan. Beacon sought bankruptcy protection two days after the White House ordered an independent 60-day evaluation of the Energy Department's loan programs aimed at ensuring effective management and monitoring. The review, conducted by a former Treasury Department official, will include examination of how Beacon’s project is performing going forward, and whether there are additional steps that can be taken to protect taxpayers, according to the Obama administration. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Washington Times - Republican presidential contender Herman Cain on Monday rejected potentially explosive allegations of “inappropriate behavior” that threatened to derail his surge in national polls, saying the accusations of sexual harassment in the 1990s were “totally false.” Speaking first to Fox News and then to a packed house at the National Press Club, Mr. Cain, a former Godfather’s Pizza CEO who now sits atop many polls, said that after a “thorough investigation” of the cases, first reported by the Politico website, the allegations were found to be “baseless.”

Anita Hill

“I’ve never sexually harassed anyone,” he said. “And yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association, and I say falsely because it turned out after the investigation to be baseless.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

Predictable Attacks on Cain Get Uglier as His Poll Numbers Become More Impressive

KOB - TV - The Santa Fe Sheriff Department needs your help to find out who stole an expensive traffic trailer it used to monitor traffic on Old Santa Fe Trail. “It has been removed by unauthorized persons and needs to be returned,” the department said in a press release this week. Police think the theft occurred sometime between 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and 7 a.m. on Saturday morning. Read full story here: News New Mexico

From biggovernment.com -It just got easier for the federal government to collect information about innocent Americans — and those Americans have had surprisingly little say in the matter. On October 15, the FBI reportedly implemented new rules that relax restrictions on, and oversight of, the FBI’s intelligence collection activities. Although they are not available to the public, reports indicate the changes permit FBI agents to search an individual’s trash with the goal of finding material that might pressure him into becoming a government informant, grant agents the authority to search commercial or law enforcement databases without first opening an investigation, and reduce the type of investigations subjected to heightened oversight because of their relationship to protected First Amendment expression, association, or religious practice. More News New Mexico

From fool.com -The recent Occupy Wall Street protests have aimed their message at the income disparity between the 1% richest Americans and the rest of the country. But what happens when you expand that and look at the 1% richest of the entire world? Some really interesting numbers emerge. If there were a global Occupy Wall Street protest, people as well off as Linda Frakes might actually be the target. In America, the top 1% earn more than $380,000 per year. We are, however, among the richest nations on Earth. How much do you need to earn to be among the top 1% of the world? $34,000. More News New Mexico

New Mexico Watchdog - In the past two years, the department has accumulated a long list of real or perceived problems. The department’s problems for years have repeatedly been the subject of news headlines and media investigations.

A facilities manager was convicted of taking bribes. An audit found likely or potential procurement problems that went far beyond the bribes paid to that one facilities manager. In August, a senior parole officer was was indicted for child porn police found on a thumb drive and on his home computer. He claimed his interest was work related. Whistleblowers in the same department last year found threats scrawled on an employee bulletin board. Employees were instructed to falsify records. One probation officer alleges in a lawsuit she was beat up in an on-the-job training class after she complained she was instructed to falsify records. Another’s federal lawsuit alleges sexual discrimination. The director of the Probation and Parole division was suspended for leading employees on an out-of-town excursion to her birthday party in state vehicles. Undocumented and unauthorized use of state vehicles continued nonetheless. Read full story here: News New Mexico